By LINDA CHION KENNEY
Ferry service from South Hillsborough County to MacDill Air Force Base has taken a hit, but not wisely, in the eyes of the newly formed, nonprofit Tampa Bay Ferries Alliance, whose officials continue to push the merits of expanded ferry service to MacDill and other stops in downtown Tampa and St. Petersburg.
“The potential of Tampa Bay’s untapped resource for regional ferry service is immense,” said Tanya Doran, executive director of the Tampa Bay Ferries Alliance, in advancing the group’s position. Such a service, Doran said, “is a proven, adaptable and highly effective transit option.”
Hillsborough County commissioners, in a 5-2 vote Aug. 2, voted to terminate its contract with HMS Ferries and South Swell Development as it relates to south county ferry service.
It was duly noted, to avoid confusion, that the Tampa Bay passenger ferry project in question has been referred to as the “south county” or “MacDill” ferry, to distinguish it from the Cross Bay Ferry that has been operating and will continue to operate between Tampa and St. Petersburg from October through May.
Set back by the vote to end funding for essential studies to move the south county project forward, Doran said the alliance nevertheless will “continue to work with Hillsborough and Pinellas County residents, community partners and government leaders to make this a reality.”
One such meeting later this month is set to take place between alliance members and Hillsborough County commissioner Michael Owen, newly elected in November, who voted Aug. 2 against the $70 million ferry measure.
With “more than $1 billion of unfunded road improvements,” expanded ferry service “is a luxury that we cannot afford,” Owen said.
Owen’s district covers south Hillsborough County. In comments before the Aug. 2 vote, he said that if the agreement is terminated, “we’re not saying that this option wouldn’t be available somehow in the future with some other type of [funding] mechanisms involved.”
Rendering view of the South Hillsborough County ferry terminal proposed for land Mosaic had offered to donate for such a purpose
It was Joshua Wostal who moved to stop funding the public/private partnership agreement for south shore ferry funding, which commissioners had approved prior to Wostal’s election to the board in November.
Owen seconded the motion, which passed in a 5-2 vote, with veteran commissioners Pat Kemp and Harry Cohen opposed.
While some speakers during public comments spoke in favor of continued south shore ferry funding, others were opposed, stating the dire need for funds to fix and build roads for a burgeoning population and a worsening gridlock problem.
Those drawn to the merits of ferry service included military personnel working at MacDill, and speakers interested in building “a viable and actionable blueprint for an urgently needed rapid transit solution,” as stated by Rob Hart, a principal of South Swell Development.
He noted that with funding to complete viability studies, Tampa would only then be in a “position to compete for tens of millions of dollars of federal and state funding” to push the project to completion. “If the commission votes to eliminate the ferry project today, this essentially stops the project for a period of not less than two years,” Hart said.
Hart counted among the “fundamental assets and equity” the county has earned over the past nine years related to the south shore ferry, the commitment from the Mosaic Company to donate the use of a multimillion land site for the south county terminal.
View of the Cross Bay Ferry operating seasonally between St. Pete and Tampa
Wostal said he was unmoved by comments made in support of the project at and in advance of the Aug. 2 meeting, including that “Mosaic was being a good community partner, surprisingly giving up waterfront property.”
“We are not suggesting in any way that South Swell Development should not pursue gaining that property and the partnership with Mosaic to build out this port,” Wostal said. He noted as well his interest in further “subsidization by the federal government.”
But, essentially, that’s a case of putting the cart before the horse because before applications for grants to move forward, feasibility studies would have to be completed, Doran said.
Transcripts and video of the Aug. 2 meeting are available online at www.HCFLGOV.net/. Tampa Bay Ferries Alliance bills itself as a diverse union of organizations and residents dedicated to making regional Tampa Bay Ferry service a permanent reality. For more, visit www.TampaBayFerriesAlliance.com/.
